When large fishing nets are to be hauled into a boat it is necessary to use power assistance due to the substantial weight of fish which may be caught in the net. However, a number of problems in providing reliable net hauling apparatus have been encountered due to the particular problems associated with the fishing industry. A first of these problems is the highly corrosive nature of the salt water which inevitably comes into intimate contact with every moving part of the apparatus. Another problem is the very considerable change in shape of the net between its empty condition and its full condition so that net hauling apparatus which totally encloses the net as it is drawn cannot be satisfactory employed. Moreover, because of the relatively fragile nature of each element forming the loops of the net, it is not possible individually to engage these since any breakage of a filament would involve an increase in the net aperture size and would weaken the net substantially as well as providing an escape route for fish from the net thereby reducing its effectiveness.